Hot spring count – 2
Mountains climbed – 1
The tent works. I’m typing this to the sounds of rain drops on the fly, and all of said drops are being directed away from us.
This is at least the 3rd storm today, and it is packing more power and thunder than earlier ones. It was much easier to stay dry today… and I kept my down items wrapped up and safe.
The little ‘dove’ room we rented last night had no phone service, no wifi, and no TV. Plenty of peace and quiet instead. It meant we were asleep and out cold early. That meant we were up early, too. Good thing, because it was dry in the morning. We motivated for a run around Paulina lake. Desitination – hot spring #2.
It was a perfect running trail… pretty flat and duffy. In a few miles we found the a steep trail down to the shore… and the pools! We chose the hottest one and began the process of trying to mix it with lake water to find the ‘just right’ temperature. It was fun changing the sand dam, switching positions and stirring it with our arms. We never did get it ‘just right’ for more than a few minutes, but it was fun to try.
Once back at the lodge, we loaded up and pedaled to the Paulina peak trailhead. Thunder was heard. ‘Is this a bad idea?’
No, it was a very good idea. As we climbed to 8000′ on foot, the clouds broke and the sun came out! We finally got to see a big view of the Caldera, one that had been hidden all yesterday.
We started descending off the mountain on singletrack, stopping to check out the falls just a bit down. We could see major rain in the valley below. What to do, what to do. We rolled on down the powerline, dropping away until we started getting wet.
Stop in the trees, wait it out. Roll on.Â
Wait, what’s that? A trail crossing, with bike tracks on it. We rolled over to a campground with a waterfall, and figured that was it. But… there were seemingly course markings on this trail. We took a gamble and starting following it, even though it was pointing the wrong way.
In this case, the right way was: down. And it proceeded to rally down, in a most spectacular fashion. Score one for bonus and unexpected singletrack!
If this route is ridden in reverse, there’s a singletrack (Peter Skene Ogden Trail) but it’s uphill only. Glad there’s some DH singletrack too.
My cobbled route took us into La Pine, where Ez’s excellent cafe sniffing skills took us to the Sugar Pine Cafe — open for a few more minutes and serving breakfast all day. Score another one!
It rained more as we devoured french toast and eggs. Then we rolled over to Ray’s for resupply.
The goal was to buy as much food as we could possibly carry. And that’s exactly what we did. How long it will last…. we don’t know. But we have some mountains we’d like to climb, and a long ways to the next lodge with food.
Luckily the last 20-some miles we just road were pretty flat, so the extra weight wasn’t a biggie. And the De-shoot-ees national forest pamphlet I was reading last night told us that a campground had water, so we rode with bottles only.
It was a bit of a gamble knowing the high likelihood of rain…. but we felt like camping, I guess. We only had to wait out one major shower, and then got to the campground with tent set up just in time for the next major one.
Weather should improve starting tomorrow. Waldo Lake, Waldo Lookout (?) And Fuji Mountain next!
Camp just before raining
Fantastic! You will soon be in Lane County, best one for mtn biking in Oregon. Be sure to stop in at Oakridge Mercantile bike shop. I told them you might be through. Good brewery in town, and a hostel. You will love Waldo. Might be mosquito hell in Millde Fork of Willamette. Be prepared. Post when you can. Yeehaw!